Your Customers are Searching on Instagram and TikTok – Can They Find You?

There’s a big change happening in marketing right now, and most small business owners haven’t picked up on it yet.

For years, “getting found online” was all about Google. You’d write blog posts, stuff your site with keywords, and hope someone would find you in the search results.

But that’s not the whole picture anymore.

These days, almost a quarter of people, 24%, go straight to Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube when they want to look something up. That means many potential customers are skipping Google entirely. So if your social posts aren’t set up to be found in those places, they might as well be invisible, no matter how good they look.

Social media isn’t just about chasing likes. It’s become a search engine in its own right. People are searching, and your content

Good Content Isn’t Enough If It Can’t Be Found

A lot of businesses still think social media is only about reach and engagement. But here’s the thing: the algorithms on these platforms aren’t just serving your posts to your followers. They’re indexing everything and showing it to people who are actually searching for something specific. If your content isn’t structured so the platforms can understand it, you’re missing out.

Here are three mistakes I see small businesses making all the time:

1. Your Captions Aren’t Searchable

Most captions fall into one of two categories:

• A few emojis and hashtags

• Something vague like “new post is live!”

Neither one really tells Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube what your post is about. These platforms are now reading captions- yes, actually reading them- to figure out what you’re posting and match it with what people are searching for.

Think about what your ideal customers might actually type into the search box. Stuff like:

“Social media tips for small businesses”

“How to grow on Instagram in 2026”

“Content ideas for local shops”

If those phrases (or something similar) aren’t in your captions, your posts just won’t show up for those searches.

Quick fix: Add a clear, one-sentence summary in your caption that explains what your post is about. Don’t overdo it with keywords, just be clear.

2. You’re Ignoring Audio, On-Screen Text, and Alt Text

Many small businesses focus only on visuals and forget the words.

Platforms now analyse:

• Spoken words in video

• Text overlays on screen

• Alt text on images

So, if your video talks about “marketing tips for local cafes,” the algorithm can match you with people searching for exactly that. But if your videos are silent, have no text, and you skip the alt text, the platform has no idea what you’re talking about, and won’t recommend your content.

Quick fix: Add short text overlays describing the topic, speak clearly about your subject, and fill in alt text for every image.

3. Your Account Doesn’t Have a Clear Theme

This is the sneakiest one, and it trips up a lot of people.

If your account jumps between topics, maybe it’s marketing tips one day, personal stuff the next, random trends, then industry news, the algorithm has no clue what your account is actually about.

Think of it like Netflix. If a show doesn’t fit any genre, Netflix has a hard time recommending it to the right people. Social media platforms work the same way. If your content has a clear theme, say, “marketing and growth tips for small business owners”, the algorithm knows who would be interested and can recommend your posts to them.

Quick fix: Pick 2–3 topics your audience cares about, stick to them consistently, and make sure each post clearly fits that theme.

Your Content Needs to be Findable

Here’s the upside: you probably don’t need to reinvent your content. You just need to make it discoverable.

Social SEO, optimising your content so people can actually find it, is the fastest way to get your posts in front of people who are actively searching for what you offer.

The brands that succeed aren’t necessarily the loudest. They’re the easiest to find. Your content is already good. Now, let’s make sure people can actually find it.